Comments when using coupons

**Stella** · 11-07-2006, 12:50 PM

I am pretty new to the whole coupon thing. At my regular grocery store, I have no problems using them. When I got to walmart and try and use them it is a different story. It always seems to "inconvience them" when I do use them. We do not have a full grocery store, so I am usually using 1-2 coupons each time I go in there. This weekend I had a coupon for a free bag of dog treats. I put all my other items on the counter and placed the coupon right on top of the treats so that he could scan them and then deduct the price. when he got the coupon he thrusted it at me and said "now what item does this go to, and how much are they"? I only got one bag of dog treats and a picture of the treats were on the coupon. Can it be that hard to figure out? Does anyone else have problems when they use coupons???

**AmyMCGS** · 11-07-2006, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by Stella

I put all my other items on the counter and placed the coupon right on top of the treats so that he could scan them and then deduct the price. when he got the coupon he thrusted it at me and said "now what item does this go to, and how much are they"? I only got one bag of dog treats and a picture of the treats were on the coupon. Can it be that hard to figure out? Does anyone else have problems when they use coupons???

Wow... I'd have asked for a manager! That kind of rude service is ridiculous. I hope you pointed out the picture on the coupon and the fact that he removed the coupon from the top of the item!

I've never had anyone say anything directly to me, but I've had some sighs and rolling eyes when I pull out a stack of coupons.

When that happens I just try to remember the time I was in line with a small cart full of groceries and had $50 or so in coupons. There was a young guy (college aged) behind me in line watching the cashier ring up all my coupons... I figured he was getting pretty annoyed. Nope. When the cashier gave me my total he just shook his head in amazement and said "Did you just have $50 in coupons?? Wow!!! I've got to start using those!"

I do try to aim for the pleasant-looking middle-aged lady cashiers if I have a lot of coupons or one that will be tricky to ring up. I know that's "typecasting", but, in my experience, the high school kids or male cashiers in general seem to be less familiar with coupons, and less willing to deal with them. (I'm sure that's not true for everyone, of course, but it does help sometimes!)

**Katybird** · 11-07-2006, 01:03 PM

That is completely unacceptable behavior from the cashier. You should have told him, "that coupon is for the new Corvette you just scanned and the value is $37,000." Sheesh, it sounds like he would be better suited as a buggy retriever from the parking lot than a cashier.

**cas519** · 11-07-2006, 01:05 PM

I agree with Amy, you should have asked for a manager. Store policy dictates that they accept coupons so it's part of the cashier's job to ring them up. If you don't come into the store with or without coupons, he won't have a job so there is no reason to act that way towards a customer.

**JustJoy** · 11-07-2006, 01:08 PM

I have a horrible time using coupons at my Walmart too. I usually get a *sigh* and a roll of the eyes from the cashiers and then they check and recheck the product and coupon to make sure they match exactly....which by the way they always do.

**Neeley** · 11-07-2006, 01:09 PM

I asked someone at Wal-Mart why they were so anti-coupons and I was told that cashiers at WM are suppose to try and get people in and out so fast (ha- ha what a joke!!!) and coupons slow their process down and they do not have as many ring ups, (they are suppose to have some kind of quota as to how many items they ring up per hour/ half-hour etc...). Also they said the WM philosophy is they make things cheap enough that you do not need to use coupons there. Don't know how true this is, it is just what I was told by a WM employee here locally.
My uncle is an acoount manager for a food distribution co (like Kraft, Pepsi, Nabisco, etc..) He is not allowed to put coupons on his merchandise in the WM stores. We have 5 WM within 15 miles of my house and none have coupon machines, nor do any of them allow account managers to put coupons on their products.

**dmvezina** · 11-07-2006, 01:13 PM

Wow! I agree with the others, you should have asked for a manager. That is awful!

I don't have any problems when using coupons, in fact I usually have a TON of them! The people behind me will have a problem until they hear how much I saved, then they're all going wow! LOL

**Amanda W** · 11-07-2006, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by AmyMCGS

I do try to aim for the pleasant-looking middle-aged lady cashiers if I have a lot of coupons or one that will be tricky to ring up.

I do exactly the opposite! I always look for male cashiers if possible, and if I can't find one I look for the dumbest looking teenager possible. In my experience, the middle-aged women cashiers seem to be mad at the world and bitter about anyone saving money. Not once have I ever had a male cashier give me a hard time about using coupons.

**Telephus44** · 11-07-2006, 06:46 PM

I don't have a specific age/gender that I look for, but I do look at all of the cashiers before I pick a lane and try and pick the one I think will give me the least hassle. I've had some cashiers (and manager) give me a hard time or not let me use coupons at various stores, and then I've had others that are wonderful. The two best ones that come to mind are:

1. Our grocery store had a deal that if you bought 5 Quaker products, they would give you $5 off your order. Oatmeal was $1 per cannister so I got 5. Both the cashier and the bag boy looked at each other and wondered out loud if it would go through. As soon as it did, the cashier said out loud that as soon as her shift was over, she was going to get some oatmeal!
2. I went to Walgreens to get hair dye on sale for $5, and I had $4/1 coupons. Since I had traded, I had 6 of them. Rather than questioning why I had so many, the cashier just said - you should have been here last week - they were on sale for $4 last week.

I find I also will be more picky about which cashier I pick depending on the coupon. If I'm using a free item coupon, or a $X off ground beef when you buy salad dressing, or a winetag coupon good on any meat purchase, etc. then really try and make sure I'm not going to get a coupon cop!

**ewokgirl** · 11-07-2006, 06:58 PM

I've never had a problem with a cashier when it comes to using coupons. And even if they did give me a problem about it, I really wouldn't care. I'm allowed to use coupons, so I do. If it makes them grumpy, that's their problem.

My problem is with those self-check machines. I tried to use 2 different coupons at Albertsons on Sunday, and the darned machine gave me all sorts of grief, including saying that one didn't match anything I'd rung up. I looked at the coupon, looked at my items, saw they were identical, and had to call the help guy over. He was very nice and apologetic about it all while he corrected the error.

**my4littlebuffaloes** · 11-07-2006, 08:03 PM

Last week a store had a $10 off coupon if you bought 10 of a certain brand. Well pudding was $1.00 each, so I bought 10 (along with other items) and when I went to use the coupon it wouldn't go through. The cashier was very nice about it, but the lady behind me was getting irritated by the wait. Finally it went through and the lady said, "wow, that was for $10? I guess it was worth the trouble." But even if it had only been for $.50, I still would have gone to the trouble, but I guess she would have thought it a waste though.

**autumnlynn** · 11-07-2006, 08:37 PM

I find that most cashiers are okay with coupons but sometimes you get one of those "coupon cops" like Sara said. They check everything and are just hoping you have an expired one or something so they can loudly hand it back to you. I always double check my coupons before getting in line so I can avoid any embarrassment.

**Dolores** · 11-08-2006, 06:11 AM

Back when I had the time, I was a serious coupon queen. I worshipped at the alter of Michelle Easter and Refunding Make Cents. From years of personal experience and reading that of others, Wal-Mart employees are notoriously bad with coupons. There is little to no training of how to handle coupons and I have read many stories from Wal-Mart employees where they have been 'punished' if they are lenient with customers regarding coupon use and store price matching. One poor girl said she was written up because she let a customer use free products coupons without getting the store manager approval. In many stores, the cashiers are viewed under a microscope regarding coupon usage, so keep this in mind the next time you encounter a coupon cop. What may come across as rude is actually a CYA. Plus, everyone has a bad day and some people simply shouldn't be cashiers.

Best store take ever - $323.56 for $14.90. Meijer triple coupons.

Dolores

**Dolores** · 11-08-2006, 06:16 AM

Originally Posted by Neeley

I asked someone at Wal-Mart why they were so anti-coupons and I was told that cashiers at WM are suppose to try and get people in and out so fast (ha- ha what a joke!!!) and coupons slow their process down and they do not have as many ring ups, (they are suppose to have some kind of quota as to how many items they ring up per hour/ half-hour etc...). Also they said the WM philosophy is they make things cheap enough that you do not need to use coupons there.

That last bit is a big ball of hooey. I use coupons at Sav-a-Lot and it doesn't get much cheaper than that! Coupons are just a hassle for a company the size of Wal-Mart - especially since most stores are 50-50 groceries and soft goods.

Dolores

**Nantahala** · 11-08-2006, 07:48 AM

I rarely shop Wal-Mart and never use coupons there for that very reason. I prefer to get my coupons doubled at Kroger, Meijer or Giant Eagle, where the customer service is better as well.